Dare You to Move
by Curby
Summary: A story about MWPP's last year at Hogwarts


Prologue  
  
Claire Arlington wiped the back of her neck nervously. The early autumn sun beat relentlessly down on her red ponytail as she approached the train station, tightly clutching her bags. The station was crowded and hot, the moisture thick in the air. She gazed around for several moments and was shortly able to pick out several members of the crowd that she was fairly certain were other wizards. A pretty girl with dark red hair and startling green eyes was standing nearby with her parents, holding an owl. As Claire watched, the girl finished her goodbyes and took off toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten, where she disappeared.  
  
Claire took a deep breath. She had heard about this. Making sure that all her luggage was secure, she mimicked the girl she had just been watching and, the next thing she knew, she was standing next to a large scarlet train. The platform was crowded and foggy from the smoke issuing out of the train's far end.  
  
She awkwardly stepped up to the nearest entrance and turned to pull her heaviest suitcase up after her. The bulky material snagged on the stairs and Claire had to set her other luggage down behind her to get a firm grip. Despite her efforts to yank the suitcase up, it remained lodged sideways on the steps. Frustrated, Claire braced her feet against the floor, grasped the handle of the suitcase with both hands, and gave a determined pull. The bag refused to move and Claire was launched backwards, landing with a thud in the train's corridor. She groaned with annoyance as she rose slowly to her feet.  
  
"Here, let me get that for you."  
  
A sandy haired boy appeared at the bottom of the stairs and heaved the suitcase up with relative ease.  
  
Claire smiled gratefully. "Thanks so much.you can just set it here."  
  
"No problem," he returned the smile. "Is this your first year?"  
  
Claire nodded.  
  
"Mine too. Do you know very many people here?"  
  
"No, nobody actually.do you?" she asked, suddenly worried.  
  
He shook his head and smiled again. "I know a few guys, but not many. Don't worry about it; most people don't know anybody else the first year. You'll be - "  
  
"Remus! Is that you?!" a voice came from the next compartment.  
  
Seconds later, a dark-haired boy emerged and entered the compartment. He stopped when he noticed Claire, but a grin slowly spread over his face as he unabashedly looked her over. Noticing, she flushed and turned away, cheeks already burning as she sank into the nearest seat. Not two minutes on the train and she was already attracting perverts. So much for thinking that she had found a friend in the sandy-haired boy, Remus.he appeared to be friends with the guy with the roaming eyes, and that really wasn't saying much for him.  
  
With these sentiments occupying her thoughts, she was startled when both boys seated themselves across from her. Automatically looking up, she was surprised to see that Remus was blushing nearly as much as herself and looking decidedly sheepish.  
  
"Uh, in case you didn't hear him, I'm Remus Lupin," he ventured after a moment, "and this is Sirius Black."  
  
Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked to the other boy, who was still grinning at her. Claire said nothing and shifted her gaze to the window, where various other witches and wizards were preparing to get on the train. This was just her luck...she was already on bad terms with the very first people from her new school that she had encountered. Remus coughed awkwardly.  
  
"I hope we didn't offend you."  
  
He stopped as Claire shot him a look that showed that clearly, she was offended.  
  
"Well, if it's him, you shouldn't worry about it. He does that to everyone," he continued after a brief pause, glancing sourly at Sirius.  
  
Raising an eyebrow, Claire looked at Sirius, who was still grinning and watching her intently. She sighed and reminded herself not to cause problems before she even knew who these people were.  
  
"I'm Claire Arlington," she said finally, smiling slightly at Remus and pointedly ignoring Sirius. Remus relaxed visibly and brushed his hair out of his grey eyes as he returned her smile.  
  
"Sorry," he said, and he really did look apologetic. Maybe Claire had formed her opinions too quickly. "I would have warned you about him ahead of time, but he came in too fast," he added, still looking disgruntled at Sirius.  
  
She smiled again halfheartedly and shrugged.  
  
"No harm done."  
  
She was just sharing yet another smile with Remus when the compartment door opened again and the pretty girl that Claire had noticed earlier entered, laden with several large bags. She spotted Claire and looked relieved.  
  
"Are you a first year?" she asked hopefully, awkwardly shifting her bags so she could hold them easier. Claire noticed Sirius giving the girl the same once-over as she had received minutes before, and couldn't help but to blush in the girl's place.  
  
"Yes," Claire said, smiling.  
  
"Mind if I share your compartment, then?" the girl asked casually.  
  
"Oh, sure! Here, let me get some of your bags," Claire offered immediately, and jumped up to relieve the girl of some of her luggage. When everything was situated, Claire straightened and moved to sit down again.  
  
"Lily Evans," the girl said simply, extending her hand with a smile.  
  
"Claire Arlington," she responded, somewhat taken aback by the formality. Did all proper eleven year olds shake hands, or was this some kind of wizard thing?  
  
"And are these friends of yours? I'm Muggle-born, so I really don't know anyone yet." Lily trailed off, watching as Sirius openly scrutinized her. He looked up and grinned as he had at Claire, but Lily met his gaze evenly.  
  
"Well?" she said after a moment. "Did I pass the inspection, then?"  
  
Surprised, Claire looked from Lily to Sirius and back to Lily.  
  
Sirius appeared startled at first as well, but recovered quickly and his grin became noticeably more genuine.  
  
"Well met," he said, his smirk evident in his tone. "You passed quite easily, I have to say."  
  
"Very well. And you are?"  
  
"Oh, right.Sirius, and this is Remus. You can inspect me back, if you'd like," he winked. Claire couldn't tell if he was joking or not. To her surprise, Lily winked back, looking amused at his expression. She took a seat next to Claire and turned to her.  
  
Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the compartment door opened yet again and another tall boy with messy black hair and glasses looked in. Spotting Remus and Sirius at once, he grinned and stepped in the rest of the way, followed by a shorter boy with mousey hair and a pointed nose.  
  
Like Sirius, the first boy paused when he noticed the two girls sitting across from his friends.  
  
"Ah.hello then.James," he said, smiling and nodding in their direction.  
  
"Claire and Lily," Claire responded, indicating the two of them. This was getting easier.  
  
"Peter," the other boy said timidly from behind James.  
  
Lily and Claire smiled politely at them and were promptly forgotten as the boys began to talk amongst themselves about other people they had encountered and things that they had heard about the school. After a short pause, Lily questioned Claire about her background and, learning that they both came from Muggle families, found that they had quite a bit to talk about.  
  
Claire was impressed at the extensive amount of knowledge that Lily seemed to have about Hogwarts and the world of wizards in general. The acceptance letter having been the first time she had learned about Hogwarts, her information was fairly limited. She had soon decided, with Lily's encouragement, that she hoped to be placed in Ravenclaw, or if not that, she supposed she wouldn't mind Gryffindor.  
  
From the brief snatches of conversation that she picked up from the boys sharing the compartment with them, Claire gathered that they were all hoping for Gryffindor. Before she knew it, over an hour had passed.  
  
"Excuse me for a minute, I think I'm going to go find the toilets," Claire said to Lily, rising and walking in the direction that she assumed they would be.  
  
As she passed through various compartments, she noticed a wide variety of witches and wizards, some her own age and others that she knew had to be at least five years older. Claire was able to pick out many of the other first years by their slightly nervous expressions. Many people greeted her and introduced themselves as she walked by, leaving her no choice but to stop and politely speak with them for a few moments, despite her increasing need to use the bathroom.  
  
Finally, she managed to locate the desired room and relieve herself. She was much more polite on the way back, stopping to introduce herself to those that she hadn't spoken to on the way up, and doing her best to greet those that she had already met by name. After all, she thought, being on good terms with so many people can't hurt anything.  
  
Claire was feeling increasingly more comfortable as she made her way back to her compartment. Several of the people that she had met on her way back stood out in her mind..including one particular boy entering his third year who had introduced himself as Malcolm and, she thought to herself, had quite the nicest smile she had seen in some time.  
  
In another compartment, sitting rather off to himself, had been a shy, dark- haired boy who blushed when she spoke to him and, rather reluctantly, gave his name as Severus. When she stood up, she was startled to see the nasty looks that the other occupants of the compartment were giving Severus, and had said politely that she hoped to see him again at the school.  
  
When she finally had made her way back to Lily and the others, they were all sitting in a circle on the floor playing a game of cards. They all looked up at once as she came in.  
  
"What took so long? I was beginning to think you'd gotten lost," said Lily lightly.  
  
"I was talking to some people.by the way, has anybody met a boy named Severus yet?" she frowned.  
  
Sirius appeared to be thinking.  
  
"Oh, I know," he said at last. "Dark hair, white as a ghost, doesn't talk much?"  
  
"That's the one," Claire responded with a slight smile.  
  
"Could use a good shower, couldn't he?" Sirius said with a smirk.  
  
Claire's smile faded. She already thought Sirius lewd enough; she didn't suppose she needed another reason to dislike him. "Why doesn't anybody like him?"  
  
Remus spoke again for the first time since Lily had entered the compartment.  
  
"Well...Claire.he's not exactly the best kind of person to be around," he said haltingly. As he watched Claire frown at him, he hurried to continue. "He's really rude, and I've heard he's into things that.well.that he shouldn't be."  
  
"In other words, he's a greasy scumbag," James interrupted, and Lily promptly scowled at him.  
  
Claire suddenly noticed a palpable tension in the room that had certainly not been there when she had left. She looked at Lily and was surprised to see the look of distaste that was in her eyes as she glared at James. After a few awkward moments where Claire, Remus, Sirius, and Peter tried not to stare as Lily and James glared at each other, Claire spoke up.  
  
"Uh, well, some of the others told me that we're not far from Hogwarts, so I suppose we should be changing into our uniforms."  
  
"Ah, right, of course.carry on," Sirius said, and James laughed as they both leaned back to watch Lily and Claire expectantly. Catching the looks that passed over both Lily and Claire's faces, Remus quickly stood up and ushered Sirius and James out of the compartment, ignoring their protests.  
  
After changing, the remainder of the ride passed quickly, and before they knew it, they had arrived at Hogwarts.  
  
Despite some of the students' weak attempts at indifference, it was obvious that everyone was impressed by the huge castle and the shimmering lake in front of it. A giant of a man was standing near the lake with a torch, calling all the first years to him. They all made their way over and began loading by fours into boats to cross the lake. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all piled into one boat, and Lily and Claire were accompanied by two other girls, one of which Claire recognized as Victoria Kennedy, a girl she had spoken to on the train.  
  
Crossing the lake took no more than ten minutes, and when the first years stepped out of their boats, they were immediately hustled by a severely stern-looking witch called Professor McGonagall toward an enormous room: the Great Hall. Claire stood nervously between Victoria and Lily at the head of the hall as they waited to be sorted into their houses. The rest of the students sat expectantly at their tables, watching as McGonagall brought out the sorting hat and rested it on the chair.  
  
Professor McGonagall unrolled a long scroll and called out the first name.  
  
"Jonathan Anthony!"  
  
A blonde boy on her right quickly stepped out of the line and walked to the stool. He had scarcely set the hat on his head when it pronounced him as a Ravenclaw.  
  
"Claire Arlington!"  
  
Claire jumped, startled. Surely it wasn't already her turn? But she obligingly walked forward and gingerly lowered herself onto the stool before placing the hat on her head.  
  
"Ah, now this one isn't very difficult either," came a small voice.  
  
Please be Ravenclaw, Claire thought to herself, crossing her fingers.  
  
"Ravenclaw? Well now, I'm not sure that's wise.you certainly are intelligent, but there's so much loyalty here, and bravery...I'm feeling that Gryffindor would be a much better place for you."  
  
Claire was becoming increasingly nervous from knowing that everyone must be staring at her, and began to hope that the hat would just pick a place for her and let her go.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat exclaimed after a few more seconds of mumbling and consideration.  
  
Filled with relief that it was over with, she took the hat off and smiled when she saw all the people that were clapping for her. She took a seat next to Malcolm, the attractive third year from the train, and realized suddenly that perhaps Gryffindor wasn't such a bad place to be. She smiled at Malcolm and then watched as the next few people were sorted.  
  
A few students later, Sirius Black joined her at the Gryffindor table and pointedly sat across from her, making her scowl as he shot her yet another of his suggestive grins. Shortly thereafter, Lily took a seat next to him and shrugged at Claire. Not Ravenclaw. Oh well.  
  
Victoria Kennedy was placed in Ravenclaw, and directly after her, Remus was sorted into Gryffindor. He slid onto the bench next to Claire and smiled at her happily. A girl named Chloe McAllister was also placed into Gryffindor, along with not only James, but Peter as well.  
  
Severus Snape, however, was not so lucky. When he put the hat on, it shouted Slytherin almost immediately, and Claire was slightly perturbed at the appearance of the rest of the Slytherins. It didn't seem like the right place for a shy boy like Severus. Ah well.  
  
Snape was the last person to be sorted, and Claire was happy for this as she was starving. After a few words from Dumbledore, the headmaster, the tables became laden with food. Claire and the others immediately loaded their plates and began eating.  
  
She was determinedly avoiding contact with Sirius as she ate when she suddenly noticed an odd noise coming from her beaker of pumpkin juice. She stared at it for a moment, puzzled, and then picked it up. It was fizzing oddly.wanting a closer look, she lifted the beaker up toward her face and -  
  
BANG!  
  
She was suddenly dripping wet with pumpkin juice. Her beaker had exploded in her hand. Too bewildered to even be embarrassed, she stared at the remains of her beaker in shock. Pumpkin juice dripped down her face and in her hair, her uniform had a huge wet spot down the front, and Claire was at a complete loss for words.  
  
"Uhm. Right, uh.well. Err...what just happened?" she finally managed.  
  
Hearing no answer, she finally had the presence of mind to look around her table.and they were all laughing. Sirius and James were collapsed on the table, their arms covering their faces as they shook with laughter. Lily and Peter were giggling, and even Remus was smiling in amusement. Claire stared at him, completely at a loss as he began dabbing at her dripping wet face with a napkin, his hands shaking with repressed laughter.  
  
She looked across the table at Sirius, who slid a small object across the table at her, still snickering. She picked up the tiny package and looked at the label bemusedly.  
  
INSTANT EXPLOSIVES: Just place in liquid and watch the fun begin!  
  
Claire stared at the package, and then looked around her in disbelief. The smiles began to fade off of their faces as they watched her nervously.perhaps the joke hadn't gone over quite as expected.  
  
Claire opened her mouth, and Sirius flinched.  
  
"Look, I'm - " he began, and then stopped.  
  
A giggle had escaped from Claire's lips.  
  
Everybody relaxed visibly, and within seconds, the entire table was laughing again, but this time she was laughing with them.  
  
So. This was Hogwarts. 


End file.
